I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2867 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require the safe 

storage of firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

HIMES, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. RUSH, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. DEAN, Mr. MORELLE, 

Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SIRES, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CROW, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 

require the safe storage of firearms, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Ethan’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress find the following: 


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1 (1) An estimated 4,600,000 minors in the 

2 United States live in homes with at least 1 unse3 cured firearm. 

4 (2) Seventy-three percent of children under the 

5 age of 10 living in homes with firearms reported 

6 knowing the location of their parents’ firearms. 

7 Thirty-six percent of those children reported han8 dling their parents’ unsecured firearms. 

9 (3) The presence of unsecured firearms in the 

10 home increases the risk of unintentional and inten11 tional shootings. Over 75 percent of firearms used in 

12 youth suicide attempts and unintentional firearm in13 juries were stored in the residence of the victim, a 

14 relative, or a friend. 

15 (4) The United States Secret Service and the 

16 Department of Education report that in 65 percent 

17 of deadly school shootings the attacker obtained the 

18 firearm from his or her own home or that of a rel19 ative. 

20 (5) In the last decade, nearly 2,000,000 fire21 arms have been reported stolen. In 2016 alone, 

22 238,000 firearms were reported stolen in the United 

23 States. Between 2010 and 2016, police recovered 

24 more than 23,000 stolen firearms across jurisdic25 tions that were used to commit kidnappings, armed 


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1 robberies, sexual assaults, murders, and other vio2 lent crimes. 

3 (6) Higher levels of neighborhood gun violence 

4 drive depopulation, discourages commercial activity, 

5 and decreases property values, resulting in fewer 

6 business establishments, fewer jobs, lower home val7 ues, and lower home ownership rates. 

8 (7) The negative economic impact of gun vio9 lence in communities is tied directly to the national 

10 economy and interstate commerce. 

11 (8) Congress has the power under the interstate 

12 commerce clause and other provisions of the Con13 stitution of the United States to enact measures en14 suring firearms are securely stored. 

15 SEC. 3. SECURE GUN STORAGE OR SAFETY DEVICE. 

16 Section 922(z) of title 18, United States Code, is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) SECURE GUN STORAGE BY OWNERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) OFFENSE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro21 vided in clause (ii), it shall be unlawful for 

22 a person to store or keep any firearm that 

23 has moved in, or that has otherwise af24 fected, interstate or foreign commerce on 

25 the premises of a residence under the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2867.IH H2867

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1 trol of the person if the person knows, or 

2 reasonably should know, that— 

3 ‘‘(I) a minor is likely to gain ac4 cess to the firearm without the per5 mission of the parent or guardian of 

6 the minor; or 

7 ‘‘(II) a resident of the residence 

8 is ineligible to possess a firearm under 

9 Federal, State, or local law. 

10 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 

11 not apply to a person if the person— 

12 ‘‘(I) keeps the firearm— 

13 ‘‘(aa) secure using a secure 

14 gun storage or safety device; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) in a location which a 

16 reasonable person would believe 

17 to be secure; or 

18 ‘‘(II) carries the firearm on his 

19 or her person or within such close 

20 proximity thereto that the person can 

21 readily retrieve and use the firearm as 

22 if the person carried the firearm on 

23 his or her person. 

24 ‘‘(B) PENALTY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any person who 

2 violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined 

3 $500 per violation. 

4 ‘‘(ii) ENHANCED PENALTY.—If a per5 son violates subparagraph (A) and a minor 

6 or a resident who is ineligible to possess a 

7 firearm under Federal, State, or local law 

8 obtains the firearm and causes injury or 

9 death to such minor, resident, or any other 

10 individual, the person shall be fined under 

11 this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 

12 years, or both. 

13 ‘‘(iii) FORFEITURE OF IMPROPERLY

14 STORED FIREARM.—Any firearm stored in 

15 violation of subparagraph (A) shall be sub16 ject to seizure and forfeiture in accordance 

17 with the procedures described in section 

18 924(d). 

19 ‘‘(C) MINOR DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

20 the term ‘minor’ means an individual who is 

21 less than 18 years of age.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 

23 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

24 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART NN—FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM 

2 ‘‘SEC. 3041. FIREARM SAFE STORAGE PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney General 

4 shall make grants to an eligible State or Indian Tribe to 

5 assist the State or Indian Tribe in carrying out the provi6 sions of any State or Tribal law that is functionally iden7 tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2), a State or Indian Tribe shall be eligible 

11 to receive grants under this section on and after the 

12 date on which the State or Indian Tribe— 

13 ‘‘(A) enacts legislation functionally iden14 tical to section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United 

15 States Code; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the attorney general of the State (or 

17 comparable Tribal official) submits a written 

18 certification to the Assistant Attorney General 

19 stating that the law of the State or Indian 

20 Tribe reflects the sense of Congress in section 

21 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 

22 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR ELIGIBILITY EXCEPTION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered State or In24 dian Tribe shall be eligible to receive a grant 

25 under this section during the 1-year period be26 ginning on the date of enactment of this part. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COVERED STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE.— 

2 In this paragraph, the term ‘covered State or 

3 Indian Tribe’ means a State or Indian Tribe 

4 that, before the date of enactment of this part, 

5 enacted legislation— 

6 ‘‘(i) that is functionally identical to 

7 section 922(z)(4) of title 18, United States 

8 Code; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) for which the attorney general of 

10 the State (or comparable Tribal official) 

11 submits a written certification to the As12 sistant Attorney General stating that the 

13 law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects 

14 the sense of Congress in section 

15 922(z)(4)(D) of such title 18. 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this 

17 section may be used by a State or Indian Tribe to assist 

18 law enforcement agencies or the courts of the State or In19 dian Tribe in enforcing and otherwise facilitating compli20 ance with any State law functionally identical to section 

21 922(z)(4), of title 18, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible State or Indian 

23 Tribe desiring a grant under this section shall submit to 

24 the Assistant Attorney General an application at such 

25 time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by 


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1 such information, as the Assistant Attorney General may 

2 reasonably require. 

3 ‘‘(e) INCENTIVES.—For each of fiscal years 2019 

4 through 2023, the Attorney General shall give affirmative 

5 preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discre6 tionary grant applications of a State or Indian Tribe that 

7 has enacted legislation— 

8 ‘‘(1) functionally identical to section 922(z)(4) 

9 of title 18, United States Code; and 

10 ‘‘(2) for which the attorney general of the State 

11 (or comparable Tribal official) submits a written cer12 tification to the Assistant Attorney General stating 

13 that the law of the State or Indian Tribe reflects the 

14 sense of Congress in section 922(z)(4)(D) of such 

15 title 18.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

17 Paragraph (4) of section 922(z) of title 18, United 

18 States Code, as added by section 3, is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(D) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO

21 LIABILITY.—It is the sense of Congress that— 

22 ‘‘(i) failure to comply with subpara23 graph (A) constitutes negligence under any 

24 relevant statute or common law rule; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) when a violation of subparagraph 

2 (A) is the but-for cause of a harm caused 

3 by the discharge of a firearm, such viola4 tion should be deemed to be the legal or 

5 proximate cause of such harm, regardless 

6 of whether such harm was also the result 

7 of an intentional tort.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

9 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

10 by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 

11 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain12 der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 

13 the application of such provision to other persons or cir14 cumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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